Update: Company Says Fuel Spill Hasn’t Reached River

Gas company workers along with environmental consultants and a clean-up crew are still working to contain a fuel spill east of Enderby.

It was caused by the crash of an Armstrong Regional Co-op truck on Mabel Lake Road Tuesday, spilling about 12-thousand litres of gas and diesel into a flooded field next to the Shuswap River.

Co-op GM Jeff Payne says, at last report, crews have been able to keep the fuel from the river.

“They’re on site about 18 hours a day just working on this thing, and they’re doing everything we can. We hope we don’t have any impact on the Shuswap River. It’s a big part of our area, and we’re confident we’ll be able to keep it out of there,” Payne tells Kiss FM.

Payne says spills booms are being used to keep it from getting away from the immediate area.

“We are seeing a little bit of a sheen, but it’s certainly nothing to worry about.”

Payne says they don’t know what caused the crash, but the male driver from Armstrong is recovering from cracked ribs.

“He is doing very well for the kind of wreck he had there. It was a pretty extreme accident,” adds Payne

Update 10 am May 17:

The clean-up continues at the site of fuel truck crash east of Enderby.

Enderby fire chief Kevin Alstad told Global News, they did what they could to prevent the fuel from reaching the nearby Shuswap River.

“My members went down the hill and we hand dug a trench to collect all the fuel into a trench. Soon after a excavator came in to dig a bigger trench to collect more of the fuel,” says Alstad.

It’s not known if any fuel got into the river.
Interior Health is advising residents along the river through Enderby and Grindrod to not use their water if there’s any signs of fuel.

The City of Enderby has switched over to a secondary well as a precautionary measure.

“We’re just awaiting for it being all-clear or some other information before we switch back to our regular source,” Enderby CAO Tate Bengtson tells Kiss FM. “We’re anticipating, being on the safe side, keeping it for a couple of days unless we hear the remediation is completed on the site.”

Interior Health is advising residents along the Shuswap River from about 6 kilometres east of Ashton Creek to the mouth of river at Mara Lake to be cautious and check their water for any signs of diesel fuel.

The advisory comes after Interior Health was notified that a tanker truck crashed near 1435 Enderby Mabel Lake Road this morning, spilling up to 4,090 liters of gasoline and 12,500 litres of diesel into a flooded field adjacent to the river.

It is unclear at this time if fuel has entered the river.

“This is a precautionary advisory for water users in the immediate area of the spill and those along the Shuswap River downstream from the accident to the mouth of Mara Lake,” says a news release. “There is no risk from this spill to water systems upstream from where the accident occurred.”

Any residents along the river in the impacted area should not use water if it smells or tastes like fuel or if there is fuel visible in the water. This includes no drinking, showering/bathing or brushing teeth if a fuel odour is detected. Diesel fuel and gasoline can pose a health risk following ingestion, inhalation or skin absorption.

Interior Health has contacted community water system operators in Enderby and Grindrod. Both systems draw water from the river and the operators are taking steps to ensure their water users are protected.

Ministry of Environment and environmental consultants are responding to contain the spill.

Interior Health will be monitoring this situation and provide updates as new information is available.

Enderby fire Chief Kevin Alstad says his crews responded to the incident, but the high ignition value of the fuel forced him to pull crews out of the area.